24th of April

 In today´s Morning Prayers, we presented before the Lord all the sisters who were Part of the Province of Santo Domingo. We did a short reminiscence, too, of the Transition of the mortal remains of our Father St. Dominic of Guzman.

On this very day, we had Sister Geraldina Céspedes as facilitator on the theme: Formation as the key to a vibrant and renewed mission.

We were told that we are in an epoch of change, and we should be asking ourselves: the why and for what of formation? What values, practices and visions of religious life do we promote in our formation communities? How are we transformed by those updates and courses realized along those years in the Permanent Formation?

The challenge posted before us is on how to accompany in this present easy-going society. It is but important to learn to journey with the young on how to deal with their processes of autonomy in decision-making, resistance, and resilience.

She quoted Sister Joan Chittister: we need to form for consistency, the generous dedication, the risk, the social consciousness, live within the means and the capacity to love those who are different from us.

Also, she made mention that we all need to nurture and care the different stages of our lives. Accompany one another in a communitarian way, learning to manage the changing and the permanent situations of our lives.

How do we form ourselves into and for the intercultural and intergenerational coexistence? We must help each other to settle or restore our relations and heal each other to enable us to live more the culture of encounter, as Pope Francis speaks about.

How to form ourselves in today´s ecclesial reality, what does it signify to be a woman in the Church today? This is about awakening our Church, offering a new style of being, it is also a challenge posted before us as Sister Joan Chittister invites us in her reflections.

In the Congregation, we must rejoice in having grand references who illumined this new ecclesial reality, the likes of St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Clare and our own Founders.

In the afternoon, we realized the FODA, DAFO, AFOM or what we call the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis on Vocation Promotions, Initial Formation and Permanent Formation. We were able to share and exchange concerns, appreciations, and difficulties in this field. Tomorrow, we will take this on as a continuation.